I am going to paint them, they will look like they did 30 years ago when I am done.

Then what? Are you going to set them up as one monstrous Portnoyesque kit? I see 18 shells. Was it all one kit 30 years ago? Or did you just happen to have four drum sets in the same color? I'm just curious, that's all.

About 2 years about I was surfing eBay as I always do and spotted a 22x14 Superstar bass drum for $75.00. I figured at that price I would buy it and resell it. Later that day I spotted a 15”standard depth matching tom for $75.00 so I figured, at that price I could add another tom and have a cool vintage 4 piece kit. I found a 10” tom a few days later and contact the seller of that tom and asked if he had any more of the kit. He sent me this picture.

I ended up making a deal so now I have basically a double base kit with power toms and one 15 standard depth.

Then I started thinking how cool it would be to have a matching set of standard toms, then I would have the option to pick and choose what I wanted to play. I found a 13” tom and grabbed it. Meanwhile I saw a 22x16 shell on eBay for next to nothing, I figured I would use the hardware off of the 22x14 and have both my kicks be deep.

Somewhere along the way I spotted the 6 &8 concert toms on a stand for $150.00

Here is where it gets really interesting. I searched high and low for a 12” standard depth tom, these are very hard to come by I would soon find. In my search I found this kit on Craigslist for 350.00. Notice the view of the snare drum. I could not tell what it was but again I want the 12”

Here is a pick after I got it home, I could not believe my eyes, it is a Rosewood snare, worth more then I paid for the entire kit!

I was short the 14" standard tom, I found one on ebay and it turned out to be a gut I know from the TAMA forum so I grabbed that.

I realized at this point with the exception of a couple of bass drum hoops and some lugs I had one double bass standard depth kit and one power tom double bass kit. I found a guy selling the lugs for the bass drum and ordered a few hoops form Anderson International.

Here is a link to some close ups so you can see the main reason for the restoration

Here they are again all stripped and ready for the next phase. I think I am going to dowel in the tom mount holes on the bass drums so they will then be virgin as well as dowel in the the spur holes. the spurs on these kits did not really hold the drums from moving to well. Other then that and using RIMS to mount the toms it will look like two a brand new 80s TAMA superstar Super Mahogany kits

It really just took on a life of it’s own, it has taken me 2 years of hunting to get to this point.

I know the real question is why? I never intended for it to get to this point. But before I knew it was so close I figure what the heck, I’ll go all the way now.

I think it is now just because I can and I really enjoy the process, I can’t wait to get in the spray booth and watch them come to life as I lay on the paint!

Just started to collect a new set (well actually quite an old one...) from Tama's Artstar-series with Cordia layers.
Still need the bass drum to go along but it's getting on nice and easy already don't you think. The snare is a killer in size 8x14!
What surprised me was the condition of the drums which is between good+ and mint considering they're some odd 20-25 years old.
My other set is a Pearl DLX Professional in laquered walnut and I like it like hell but with this new Artstar thing I think I can hear some winds of change...

I know I have no reason to be ashamed of my own tama but some of these kits and drums make me green with jealousy! I love the looks of the warlord snare drums and Earthshaker's kit makes me second-guess my love for big-yet-modest kits such as my own... Anyway, here's the latest pic of my superstars, in a 10-12-16 tom configuration with both rack toms to the left of my ride cymbal. Very comfortable, though it forces me to move the hats a little further to the left than I'd like.

big philly, i like that configuration a lot, its a comfy setup. I play an open playing position (not crossing sticks) and when I used a 5 piece kit I found that to be very comfy. The high hat to the left more never bothered me because i played open, so i was hitting with my left hand anyway.

Nice kit by the way, i love the finish on those superstars. blue fades are killer :-)

Thanks! Yeah, the Ocean Fade is beautiful. I love it today as much as I loved it when I first bought it. The pictures do no justice though; you can see the wood grain through the lighter parts and there's more sea green going on in real life as well. This picture captures the finish pretty good:

Earthshaker - that's one badass kit. Mind if I ask how long you've been acquiring that stuff? Or did you go hog wild with your inheritance and get it all at once? Looking at your kit makes me wonder if I should start considering a rack myself.

Earthshaker - that's one badass kit. Mind if I ask how long you've been acquiring that stuff? Or did you go hog wild with your inheritance and get it all at once? Looking at your kit makes me wonder if I should start considering a rack myself.

Hope you've got a roadie to haul that monster around for you...

Thanks !
I've been playing drums for years now, selling, trading sets, cymbals & things...
I just sold my previous performers, the PAISTE cymbals I was playing then (Switched to ZILDJIAN recently), etc....
One important thing to notice is that I'm a TAMA endorsee - 30% off of the "official" price -

Are those Pinstripes on your toms? How do they sound and what are you using for resos?

And have you abandoned the homemade octobans?

Hey M1ck,
No, they are Powerstroke 3's, and I recently replaced all tom reso's by coated ambassadors - beautiful sound.
The home-made octobans are still being used, the 22" is now on the right of the floor tom but it is not shown in the picture. I don't use them as much as I used to, though.

Cool, you see them on ebay but not a lot, best of luck with that. Can't wait to see it completed.

...well now the see it completed is getting closer.
Here are a couple of pics from the heap of cordia I've got my hands on in the last few weeks here in Finland. The set still needs new skins and so but the main frame is about right now though I won't be using more than 2-3 of these toms in the setup. The ics are 800x600 which unfortunately takes some sharpness and dick from them. The 8x14 snare that came along but is not in these pics is already in a vault - naah just joking but believe me it's a beast and a beauty in same dress and her kiss is aaaaaaaah...

Wow some really great kits here. The above is what mine looks like but that may all change soon. I am stripping the wrap and will colour/then varnish the shells. Have not picked a colour just yet though. Thinking somewhere along the lines of a light oak. (All this subject time etc). Oh, and of course, no forthcoming gigs!. :-)

Here's a SCP set I had for a while. Mostly used for "less than savory" gigs.
My bass player re cut all the bearing edges to a 45 inside and a 35 outside ( if I recall correctly). Helped the tuning stability tons. I should mention that the edges were shot from orig. owners neglect and abuse.
I took so many stickers off this set with goo gone....I just can't stand to think about it LOL.
It had the standard 10,12,14 toms with a 22x16 kick. I gave the tama snare to a friend. That silver one is a homemade job. Didn't sound half bad but I sold it with the kit.
It was also the "put every china or kina sounding cymbal I own" on it kit :D
One day I'll buy another Tama kit just have one around.

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